Here is info on the upcoming "Call to Action" Tea Party Time: Thursday, September 17, 5:00 p.m. Place: Camden County Courthouse steps (crossroads of Hwy 5 and 54) in Camdenton
Lots of dynamite speakers: Keynote: Representative Charles Kay from Oklahoma Other speakers: Vicki Hartzler (candidate for 4th Congressional District) Senator Chuck Purgason (Candidate for Bond's seat for Senate) Brian Riley (Candidate for 4th Congressional District) Representative Allen Icet Jeff Parnell (possible 4th Dist. Congressional Candidate) and MC of the Fair Tax Rally (short spots by people from the audience) Bring your signs, coolers, sandwiches, and all of your friends. We hope to have over 1000 there. Over 500 attended our first one. Make your voices heard, get involved!!! Our freedoms are slipping away. Call Jim Jauert at 573-345-4128 or Shannon Baker at 573-280-0091 if you have questions or wish to volunteer. Jim's e-mail is
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"It is scarcely possible to reduce an enlightened people to civil or ecclesiastical tyranny. Deprive them of knowledge, and they sink almost insensibly in vassalage. Ignorance cramps the powers of the mind, at the same time that it blinds men to all their natural rights ..."
-- Noah Webster
Patriot, educator, creator of the American dictionary (created because he knew common language would help unite the country), Noah Webster included the above passage in an essay promoting universal public education. To me, both sentences are loaded with meaning for us today, simultaneously pertinent to modern political debate, the concept of human liberty, worldview and personal education.
One often hears the questions "Why are we so divided? Why is our political system in such terminal gridlock?" My answer is that for the most part, our citizens no longer learn the value of personal, individual freedom; what a still-new concept it is, and why they should do whatever it takes to keep it. (Whether or not the concept of liberty is being taught is a subject for another time.)
Partisanship is nothing new; our first U.S. senator, Thomas Hart Benton, routinely challenged opponents to pistol duels, and Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was nearly caned to death following a Senate debate. What is new is that as a people, we no longer agree upon even the most basic building blocks of our system -- economic, intellectual, and spiritual freedom.
Rarely in our history have so many Americans been so apparently willing to trade individual liberty for the promise of "security." Why? Certainly it is because immediate, economic concerns are surely more important than the timeless, dusty "natural right" of freedom. I believe that to appreciate the level of freedom you still have requires a fair knowledge of history, and unfortunately most of us are just plain ignorant in that area. For example, in 1994, on the way to ceremonies celebrating the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, President Clinton had to be brought up to speed on the events of June 6, 1944, according to "Don't Know Much About History" by Kenneth C. Davis. During the Great Depression , a number of people embraced communism, or fascism and prayed for a dictator to end the suffering. I view the current rush to "reform" health care, stop global warming, and institute overt government control of private business in the same vein, but as the president's chief of staff has said, one should not waste an opportunity to capitalize upon crisis. Ignorance cramps the powers of the mind, at the same time it blinds men to all their natural rights.
I eagerly await the comments of my friends on the left who so rabidly rebutted my last writing. As a group they claim to be vigorous proponents of robust debate, but many of them include name-calling and personal attacks in their version of discourse ... but that's freedom, and I like it.
The Springfield News-Leader printed a short op-ed today that I wrote while in a hospital waiting room a couple of weeks ago; it is generating a lot of comment. Here it is below, along with a link so you can read the comments:
This morning my mother took a nasty fall, while home alone. Emergency personnel from the Ozark Fire Department and an ambulance arrived in record time. She was quickly transported to the emergency room and was examined without delay. She was found to have broken her left leg (above her brand-new knee), fractured her left thumb and suffered numerous cuts and bruises. An IV was installed and her pain was quickly brought under control. X-rays indicated that the broken leg would require surgery; in a short time, she was in the operating room, and at this hour, about 5 p.m., is resting in a room on the third floor.
I am impressed, and grateful for what I perceive to be excellent care at every level. Now that I know she is all right, I have one nagging question: Exactly what does the U.S. government think it can do to improve health care, and what do they plan to do with the money they are going to confiscate from private citizens for their alleged purpose?
In my 48 years of life as an involved, curious citizen, I have concluded that even in areas where government does an excellent job, such as defense, infrastructure, etc., it is never efficient or fast. Never.
I have completed numerous tax forms, FAFSA forms, civil service employment applications, census forms, SBA loan applications and even Federal Election Commission filings, and there is no such thing as simplicity or common sense where the feds are involved. I believe the last thing we need is the heavy hand of the federal bureaucracy pressing its thumb on our personal business, any more than it already is.
Some of you will respond that the problem is not health care itself, but rather "access" to health care. Baloney, or bologna, if you prefer. As an employer and an employee, I have seen both sides of that equation. I have been a small business owner trying to provide coverage for my family and a few employees, all of whom were smokers. I currently work with someone who chooses to be uninsured due to the cost of available coverage. (An aside: Why is it that our friends on the left are so adamant about "choice" in certain areas, but want government mandates in so many others?) He has visited two different hospital emergency rooms three times in the last two weeks for minor maladies. He has had two CT scans, an MRI and been prescribed medications ... and has not yet been turned away, though uninsured. Admittedly, this is an imperfect system that assuredly increases costs for everyone. But please, look me in the eye, (with a straight face!) and tell me that we can trust one of the most irresponsible Congresses in U.S. history to produce legislation that won't drive those costs even higher.
Yesterday, my former opponent, thirty-two year congressman Ike Skelton voted against Liberty and for the continued destruction of the U.S. economy.
As I repeatedly stated in my campaign last year, Congressman Skelton is no friend of the average Missourian.He is a cake-eater and a tool of Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama.
Thirty-two years in Washington have totally detached Congressman Skelton from the issues Missourians face.I guarantee that he and his cohorts in congress will not feel the effects of this horrendous attack on the American Dream…but we will.
The vote may be past, but I call on everyone who lives in Missouri’s 4th District to contact Skelton’s offices and let him know what you think about his actions.Raise your voices for Liberty!
Jeff Parnell
Office Addresses
Congressman Ike Skelton U.S. House of Representatives 2206 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-2504 Telephone: 202-225-2876
Blue Springs Office 514-B NW Seven Highway Blue Springs, MO 64014-2733 Telephone: 816-228-4242
Jefferson City Office 1401 Southwest Blvd, Suite 101 Jefferson City, MO 65109-2429 Telephone: 573-635-3499
Lebanon Office 219 N Adams St Lebanon, MO 65536-3000 Telephone: 417-532-7964
Sedalia Office 908 Thompson Blvd. Sedalia, MO 65301-4593 Telephone: 660-826-2675
The Midwest Fair Tax Rally is now history and the Nay Sayers are crawling out from under their liberal rocks to bash the concept.
The Status-Quo Gang, which includes those from both sides of the political spectrum, feels that a tax code of tens of thousands of pages, controlled by a congress without conscience is preferable to a Fair Tax which is, really, fair.
Last summer, when I was in the midst of running for congress, McCain and Obama suspended their respective campaigns and flew to D.C. to save us; aided and abetted by Reid, Pelosi, Boehner, Blunt, et al.
Did it work?Well, I no longer own a business.I received no “bail out”.Millions are out of work, and the U.S. government now controls a significant portion of once-private business, including the iconic General Motors.
What if?What if they had simply eliminated the capital gains tax, instituted the Fair Tax, and turned the United States into the tax haven of the planet?
I asked John McCain about this and received a “hem haw hee” answer, which translated meant, “We like the tax code, and we like controlling it…sorry”.
Today we hear from someone representing a group called the Organization for Social Welfare who states:"The math just doesn't add up. Somebody's going to have to pay more, and I have a hunch it's those that are less well off,” Right.
Then there is Mary Still, D-Columbia, who stated: “I oppose this form of tax increase and think it would be a burden on middle-class America.”Right.I must say, though, that Ms. Still retains a place in heart, because she once accused me of creating a “fraternity party” atmosphere in the state legislature with my song “We Can’t Keep Holden On” back in 2003…even though she obviously is as uninformed about the Fair Tax as John McCain (I am an equal opportunity offender) and most of our political elites.
Ultimately, these rocket scientists will be driven to the Fair Tax because it is the only thing out there that will fully fund the government and rescue Social Security and Medicare, and they have no plan other than to retain their seats and bury their heads firmly in the shifting sands of mediocrity.
Call To Action Tea Party!
